Pages

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Changing schools

The last post was updating about our full Vanderbilt assessment.
The report was very thorough and included recommendations on treatment. We have
spent so many hours meeting with people to learn about offerings at different
schools (public and private), talking to professionals, parents, etc. It has been like navigating in a maze. Each time you think you've resolved an "issue" two more appear. There really is not a "best" option. For B to receive
the recommended amount of therapies, he will need to transfer to a developmental Pre-K
program (which is only offered at Whitehall Pre-K) beginning this school year. I
can’t tell you how difficult of a decision this has been. Some of the issues we were having in deciding to move him was the condition of his new school is not great. It angers me that we do not put more priority and emphasis in providing better conditions at all our schools (that’s another rant/discussion). Another issue we encountered is there not being any after school at the school. The school will only bus children to residential addresses and no local daycares offer part-time or after-school care. It makes it very difficult for working parents. Thankfully, our in-laws have agreed to pick Brody up 4 days a week from school and Bill will pick him up one day.I hated to ask this of them but there were no other options and I am slowly realizing and learning to actually ask for help.We have loved his current school (USJ) and want to make sure people understand he was not asked to leave. They offered to help us in any way they could but we understand that they are limited in what and how they can help. We will miss everyone and are grateful with how they have been so kind to us during this time. Ultimately, for us, it came down to listening to the recommendations from professionals on early intervention, where can we maximize the amount of therapies and to surround him with people that have more experience working with kids with Autism. I keep telling myself it's not about what we want but what he needs. I think the hardest part for us is accepting that our child actually
needs special needs services. It’s hard
to describe coming to terms with realizing your child
needs more than others and more than what you know to how to give. I have never been so unsure of what to do but all we can do is try what we think is the "better" option. Brody does not handle change very well so I am very worried on how the transition will impact him. Thank you for your continued prayers for him. We definitely appreciate the positive support.